RIIIIING, RIIIIING, RIIIING!
Just a few more minutes, please.
RIIIIING, RIIIIING, RIIIING!
AAAAAAAAAH!
I slammed the clock, knocking it onto the floor.
"NONONO, Mom's going to get mad at me, damn it!"
Cris jumped out of bed in a rush, still in pajamas.
"It's broken, broken, damn it!"
She wanted to cry right there, but she wouldn't; if she did, her mom would find out it had broken.
"CRIIIIIS, GET UP, IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!"
"I'M AWAKE, MOOOOM!"
"THEN HURRY UP, DAMN IT!"
Cris dressed as fast as she could and stuffed the clock into her backpack. She would fix it somehow, but for now she had to hide the crime scene from her mother. Then she went downstairs and saw her breakfast on the table: delicious milk with cereal.
"Come on, sweetheart, eat quickly. Good Lord, my little girl, why do you always take so long? The school has called me three times because you keep arriving late."
Her mother had sounded very angry before she came down, yet there she was with her usual sweet smile.
"Sorry, Mom, I was just really sleepy, so it was hard to wake up."
Now she was angry again, her frown showing.
"That's because you spend all day playing. What will you do if your brain gets fried someday? Yesterday I saw a video of a boy who lost his eyesight from spending too much time looking at screens."
Cris stopped listening halfway through, honestly; this conversation happened every day and she was tired of it, so she ignored her mother and sat down to eat her cereal.
"OH, MOM, THE TV, QUICK, TURN IT UP, TURN IT UP!"
"Ahhh… you don't even listen to me anymore. I'll have to talk seriously about this with your father, and fix that hair, it looks like a bird's nest. Why do you keep covering one of your beautiful eyes that I made with so much love? Oh dear."
Reluctantly, her mother turned up the television, and Cris became so interested in the news that she completely forgot about the clock she had broken that morning.
Greetings to all viewers tuning in to the CNFS news channel. We are live near the tower located in the Central States, one day before the first so-called ascent begins.
"Did you hear that, Mom! They're finally going up. Who knows what they'll find!"
Her mother looked anything but excited.
"This isn't something to be excited about. Those poor young people aren't even twenty. How could their parents let them do this?"
"Oh, moooom, how can you be so boring?"
Today, for the first time, we have an interview with one of the climbers.
A beautiful young woman with long black hair, bangs reaching her eyes and an athletic yet still very feminine build, stepped forward to answer the question.
"She looks so cool. Look, Mom, she looks like a superhero!"
"Ahhh… a girl should be sweet and delicate. What times we live in."
Cris decided she wouldn't say anything else to her mother.
One of the many interviewers began asking the candidate questions.
"No one knows who created the tower or what lies inside. Aren't you worried about entering something that might have no exit?"
"It's true, there are many things we don't know about this tower. The only information we have comes from the so-called 'system' that appeared at the same time as the towers. Undoubtedly it's reckless on our part to enter this place, but this whole situation is incredible: giant towers rising out of nowhere, messages seemingly placed magically in our minds. If I said we weren't worried, I'd be lying, but just as astronauts once set foot on the moon or Spaniards once discovered America, we are ready to embark on this journey for humanity."
"WOOOOOW, SO COOL!"
Cameras flashed to capture every moment of this historic event while reporters tried to get a question in.
"PLEASE, LET ME ASK!"
"NO, ME, ME!"
"MOVE, I WAS HERE FIRST!"
The young woman pointed at a blond reporter, deliberately ignoring any dark-haired journalist who wanted to speak.
"Only a few were selected when the tower appeared. Do you think you were chosen… or cursed?"
She looked thoughtful at that question, but only for a moment.
"The only thing I'm certain of is that only people who, in one way or another, wished to enter this tower were chosen. Whether it's a blessing or a curse is something we'll discover soon enough."
More flashes followed.
"Alright, one last question."
A man in a black suit shouted to the reporters.
Several were ignored until one was given the floor.
"There are theories saying the towers are a test for humanity. If that's true, what do you think they're evaluating in you?"
"I don't know if they're a test. However, if they are, then all humanity, from the American Supercontinent, New Africa, Sovereign Europe, and the League of Asian Nations, must unite to face this task together."
Cris was so captivated that cereal fell from her mouth. But the TV suddenly turned off, breaking her focus.
"MOOOOM!"
"You're going to be late, hurry up and eat so you can leave."
Reluctantly, Cris finished her food and left the house angrily.
"Hey, before you go, don't you think you should give your mother a goodbye kiss?"
"NO, I DON'T WANT TO."
She ran off, leaving her mother alone at the door.
"God, this daughter of mine grows more rebellious every day. What am I going to do with her?"
"Ahhhh…" her mother sighed, thinking of her daughter.
Cris was walking down the street; however, she wasn't heading to school but changed her usual route to find an electronics shop where she could fix her alarm clock. If her parents discovered she had broken another one, they'd surely punish her, and he didn't want that, not when they were about to start climbing the tower. Soon, he truly needed the internet.
But I feel a little sad. People from the Northern States, as well as those from the Central States, had their own climbers; however, in comparison it was rare to have official climbers in the Southern States.
Just yesterday I argued with someone in a chat because he wouldn't stop saying we didn't have as many Climbers since most of us weren't humans but monkeys. Ufff… just remembering it makes me angry again.
Finally, she had arrived. The shop was located in an alley of the so-called Green District, a dangerous and poor neighborhood, but the only one with small shops like the one she needed.
Ding!
Cris walked into the store.
"Oh, hello young lady, what do you need?"
"Hello, sir. I'd like to fix this broken clock."
Cris pulled the alarm clock from her backpack.
"Okay, let's see what's wrong… oh, I see, the solar battery wires came loose."
"Is that very bad?"
The man stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Yes, it's very bad. Good thing you came quickly, girl. For about thirty dollars I can fix your clock."
Cris was surprised; she hadn't expected the problem to be that serious.
She opened her backpack and pulled out a wad of several hundred-dollar bills.
"Here, sir."
Cris set aside about thirty dollars and handed them to the shop owner, but when she passed him the money she noticed he had a strange expression on his face. Cris didn't understand it; it just seemed a little odd.
"Wait here, kid; I'll go fix your clock."
The owner left but returned about ten minutes later.
"Alright, here it is. Be careful, and by the way I have a van. Don't you want me to drive you to school faster? You'll be late."
The question caught her off guard, making her slightly uncomfortable.
"N-no, don't worry sir, I'll go by myself."
"Bah, whatever girl, if you want to be late that's your problem."
Cris noticed the clock looked as good as new, so she felt glad to have solved the problem.
"Thank you very much!" she said cheerfully, leaving the shop.
She walked calmly; she was still twenty minutes away, and classes had started ten minutes ago. However, as long as she didn't arrive at the beginning of the second class, they wouldn't call her mother and would just think she was late because her mom overslept or something. It was an excuse I used a couple of times and it always worked.
This time she had to pass through a narrow residential street; it was very long and she had to reach the end and turn right to get to school.
The houses there always caught her attention: they didn't have three floors like hers and were very small. She didn't understand how people could live in such small places, but if it made them happy, fine by her.
The sound of a van suddenly roared, approaching at full speed. When Cris turned around, the white van was only a few dozen meters away.
"Why do they drive like that? They could cause an accident."
But as she thought that, the van stopped right in front of her for some reason.
The door swung open and three hooded men stepped out.
They immediately lunged at Cris.
"Let me go! Let me go! What are you doing?"
Cris tried to fight, but what could she do against the strength of three grown men?
"Shit, girl, stay still if you don't want me to kill you."
That didn't silence her at all; in fact, she started screaming at the top of her lungs, terrified by the man's words.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE!"
"DAMN IT, I TOLD YOU!"
The man's fist struck her face.
Cris recognized the shopkeeper's voice and said through tears,
"Why, sir? Why are you doing this? Did I give you too little money?" her words barely understandable through sobs and snot.
"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"
He was about to hit her again.
But at that moment…
"AGH!"
Suddenly, the shop owner fell to the ground.
Blood burst from his head.
He didn't get up again.
Cris looked in shock; between her and the kidnappers, a young man with long, tangled brown hair stood firm, a blood-covered stone in his hand.
"You're dead, you bastard!"
The two men rushed him with their fists.
One moved first, throwing punches at the young man, but he easily blocked them with his forearm before they could land.
Frustrated at missing every strike, the man threw an overly wide hook, and the young man seized the chance, delivering a fast straight punch that connected before the hook was halfway through.
But then a heavy blow hit the back of his neck; he had left his back unguarded against the other kidnapper.
"Damn."
The hit made him stagger and fall. The kidnapper quickly moved to keep beating him, but the young man got up and threw dirt into his face.
The kidnapper instinctively lowered his head as dirt got into his eyes, trying to clear them, but the young man ran forward and drove a knee into his nose, knocking him to the ground.
Two were down.
But the last kidnapper didn't hesitate; he pulled a knife from his pocket and lunged at the young man, who could only block the blade with his arms. His hands quickly became a bloody mess from countless cuts.
He tried with all his strength to grab him, but between the slippery blood and his young body not matching a grown, well-fed adult…
Every time he tried to seize him he suffered more cuts, yet if he stopped even for a moment, a knife would sink into his chest, and that would be the end of this fight.
He tried knee strikes, but the man had his legs pinned.
His strength slowly began to fade, until he saw the girl approaching from behind.
The kidnapper noticed too, though not in time; he only managed to shift where the blow would land, taking it to his forehead, not strong enough to knock him out.
But enough to make him stop attacking for a second, and the young man didn't waste it.
With his bloodied hand he grabbed the fallen stone and used all his strength to smash the man's temple, then again, and again, until he finally collapsed beside him.
"Hahhh… Hahhhh… haahhhh…"
It took him a few moments to calm down.
"Hey, girl."
The girl, still in shock, stared frozen at the bloody scene around her.
"Y-Yes?"
"Could you call an ambulance? I don't have a phone."
After that, the young man fainted.